On pathways for admission of Syrian Refugees

A one-day, high-level meeting on global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees was held 30 March 2016 in Geneva . The meeting was bookended by the 4 February 2016 Supporting Syria conference in London, the 23-24 May 2016 World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, and the 19 September 2016 Summit Addressing Large Movements of Refugees […]

On studying the timing of displacement

Justin Schon over at the Monkey Cage writes about drives behind population displacement, studying Somalia using UNHCR’s Population Movement Tracking system data — What factors influence the timing of displacement? Why do certain crises prompt displacement floods while others only elicit a trickle? Unique daily internal displacement data from Somalia in the mid-2000s, which I […]

On Erna speaking about refugees, 2001

The perks of doing archival research is that you occasionally come across some gems: Status of Refugees – a speech by Erna Solberg, (then) Minister of local Government and Regional Development, at the Ministerial meeting of states parties to the convention relating to the status of refugees on 12 December 2001, Geneva: This 50th anniversary provides […]

On “Resettlement Plus”

UNHCR just published their supplemental appeal, Strengthening refugee resettlement and other pathways to admission and solutions: Global Strategy 2016. From page 4, UNCHR Strategy, UNHCR’s response to this unprecedented level of requests for referrals of refugees for resettlement and other forms of admission centers on: The immediate scale up of capacity for resettlement processing, including through […]

On introductions and pep talks

Bonus perk of working out of UNHCR’s archives this week? Getting to watch the new UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi’s introductory remarks to the HQ — “UNHCR is navigating extraordinarily difficult waters,” Grandi said. “The combination of multiple conflicts and resulting mass displacement, fresh challenges to asylum, the funding gap between humanitarian needs and […]

On having a corner window

Fresh off a winter holiday spent at a cabin in the mountains, I’ve landed in Geneva and am happy to report that UNHCR’s archives offer working space on the third floor — not in the basement, as I had feared! (y’all can see the window behind my case of documents, right!?)

On 2016 projected global resettlement needs

UNHCR’s 2016 projected global resettlement needs is a treasure trove of context as to what’s going on, statistically, and the behind the scenes of global resettlement. From page 17, Strategic response 2015 – 2016 The Resettlement Service will: • Expand global capacity and response: Resettlement needs continue to outstrip the number of available places, particularly […]

On ‘massive’ resettlement programs

Via the BBC — [Antonio Guterres] called for the numbers of refugees being resettled in Europe to be increased. “We are encouraged by the fact that a number of European countries have been saying, and I believe this is on the table to the European Council, that a massive resettlement programme needs to be put […]

On 2014 Statistical Yearbook

UNHCR just released their 2014 Statistical Yearbook. From chapter 3, durable solutions and new displacement — The number of countries admitting refugees for resettlement has remained relatively stagnant in recent years. Likewise, the number of available resettlement places has not grown significantly. These trends are in contrast to the number of resettlement claims, which continues […]

On international resettlement conferences

From Reuters: U.N. to hold March summit to resettle, place millions of Syrians — He [Ban Ki-moon] said the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees would convene a conference in March to win pledges from countries to resettle or help place those who have been displaced due to the Syria conflict. [..] He said he would […]